Beginning ~ with squeaky wipers

"Wipers squeaked against the windshield, smearing raindrops across the glass.   The rhythmic sound filled the car as Anaya Jones idled in the driveway."

Yes, I'm curious.  I want to know where she is and why she's idling in the driveway.  So I googled the book (see below), liked what I saw, and immediately put this one on reserve at my library.  I got it yesterday and can now start reading.


No One Ever Asked ~ by Katie Ganshert, 2018, fiction (Missouri)

Challenging perceptions of discrimination and prejudice, this emotionally resonant drama explores three different women navigating challenges in a changing school district — and in their lives.  When an impoverished school district loses its accreditation and the affluent community of Crystal Ridge has no choice but to open their school doors, the lives of three very different women converge:

• Camille Gray — the wife of an executive, mother of three, long-standing PTA chairwoman, and champion fundraiser — faced with a shocking discovery that threatens to tear her picture-perfect world apart at the seams.
• Jen Covington — the career nurse whose long, painful journey to motherhood finally resulted in adoption, but she is struggling with a happily-ever-after so much harder than she anticipated.
• Anaya Jones — the first woman in her family to graduate from college and a brand new teacher at Crystal Ridge's top elementary school, unprepared for the powder-keg situation she's stepped into.

Tensions rise within and without, culminating in an unforeseen event that impacts them all.  This story explores the implicit biases impacting American society, and asks the ultimate question:  What does it mean to be human?  Why are we so quick to put labels on each other and categorize people as "this" or "that," when such complexity exists in each person?

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.